#Chuck Schumer’s Warning

[xtruss]

Chuck Schumer Privately Warns Pakistan : Don’t Kill Imran Khan In Prison

Supporters worry Khan’s life is in danger and with good reason: The military has a long history of killing deposed leaders.

— Ryan Grim, Murtaza Hussain | April 23 2024

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 28, 2023. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Warned In A Conversation With Pakistan’s Ambassador To Washington that the safety of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan was a high priority of the United States, multiple sources familiar with the exchange told The Intercept.

The warning issued late last month by Schumer, the most powerful Democrat in Congress, to Pakistan came after intense activism by members of the Pakistani diaspora amid concerns that the Pakistani military may harm Khan, the former prime minister who was ousted from office in 2022.

“The Pakistani American diaspora has felt let down by Washington’s failure to engage power brokers in Pakistan and hold them accountable for blatant violations of human rights.”

“Chuck Schumer speaking to the ambassador regarding the safety of Imran Khan is very constructive,” Mohammad Munir Khan, a Pakistani American political activist in the U.S., told The Intercept. “The Pakistani American diaspora has felt let down by Washington’s failure to engage power brokers in Pakistan and hold them accountable for blatant violations of human rights, and destruction of basic fundamentals of democracy.”

Imran Khan is currently incarcerated on corruption charges that are widely seen as politically motivated. Khan, who is regarded as the most popular politician in Pakistan, was removed from power in an April 2022 no-confidence vote orchestrated by the country’s powerful military establishment and encouraged by the U.S. Since then, Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, has faced a brutal repression that has raised international alarms and been denounced by human rights groups.

The concerns about Khan’s life that prompted Schumer’s call to the Pakistani Ambassador Masood Khan reflect a growing fear that the military may deal with Khan’s stubborn popularity by simply putting an end to his life behind bars. (Schumer’s office declined to comment for this story. The Pakistani Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

The outreach from Schumer, who represents a large, vocal Pakistani American community in New York, came as a new governing coalition in the South Asian country seeks to consolidate power despite public disaffection over a February election rife with fraud.

In addition to banning PTI, Pakistan engaged in heavy repression ahead of the February vote. A record turnout suggested PTI-aligned candidates had the upper hand. Ignoring widespread fraud, however, a coalition of parties supported by the Pakistani military successfully formed a government led by Shehbaz Sharif in the vote’s aftermath.

The international community, including the U.S., noted voting irregularities, and credible allegations arose of vote rigging and flagrant fraud in the election.

“There is undeniable evidence, which the State Department agrees with, that there were problems with this election,” Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, told The Intercept in March. At the time, Casar and other members of Congress had just called on President Joe Biden to withhold recognition of the government, but Washington’s ambassador to Pakistan congratulated Sharif in early March.

“There is undeniable evidence, which the State Department agrees with, that there were problems with this election.”

Foreign policy experts in Washington said the Biden administration’s approach risked transgressing democratic principles in the name of security. Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy, said, “This appears to be an example where the administration is allowing its security relationship with a foreign government to crowd out other critical concerns like democratic backsliding and human rights.”

Imran Khan himself has reportedly been held in dire conditions at a prison in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. Last month, his visitor privileges were abruptly suspended for two weeks, prompting fears from his supporters about his physical conditions in custody. Earlier this month, one of his lawyers claimed that his personal physician was not being allowed to see him in jail. Khan’s wife, who is imprisoned on politically motivated charges of an un-Islamic marriage and graft, has also reportedly suffered health problems due to conditions of her confinement, according to remarks from her lawyer this week.

In a statement given to reporters from prison and later shared on social media, Khan, who was wounded in an attempted assassination in November 2022 at a political rally, alleged that there had been a plot to kill him while behind bars. Khan suggested his fate was in the hands of Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief.

“Let it be known that if anything happens to me or my wife, it’ll be him who will be responsible,” Khan said.

Schumer’s call to the Pakistani ambassador, however, may play into the military’s calculations about killing Khan. “A senior Democrat influential in the Biden administration is sending a warning, which is somewhat significant,” said Adam Weinstein, the deputy director of the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute, adding that he did not believe the military would kill Khan in prison.

As extreme as a step it would be, the military harming or even killing a leader it ousted, even one as popular as Khan, would fit a pattern in Pakistani history. Several Pakistani leaders have died violently in the past few decades after falling out with the military, some under murky circumstances, while others, like former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, were executed by military rulers after being deposed from power.

Although nominally led by a civilian government today, Pakistan’s military is widely known to call the shots in the country politically and is currently led by Munir, whose clashes with Khan and his party have been the main political storyline in the country for over a year.

For Pakistani activists in the U.S., the American relationship with Pakistan creates leverage that can be used to ensure that Khan is not murdered behind bars. Mohammad Munir Khan, the Pakistani American activist, said, “The least Washington can do is to ensure Imran Khan is not harmed physically.”

Supporters of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party hold a March 10, 2024, protest in Peshawar against election fraud. Photo: Abdul Majeed/AFP via Getty Images

Capitol Hill Hearing

The U.S. has played an outsized role in Pakistan’s internal politics, especially over the past several years, including a pivotal role in Khan’s ouster from power.

In August 2023, The Intercept reported on and published a classified Pakistani diplomatic cable — a contentious document that had become a centerpiece of political drama, though its contents had remained unknown — showing that Khan’s removal from power had taken place following intense pressure placed on the Pakistani government by U.S. State Department officials.

In the cable, Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu, whose office covers South Asia at the State Department, is quoted as telling the Pakistani ambassador to Washington that the countries’ relations would be seriously damaged if Khan were to remain in power.

“I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington,” Lu said, according to the Pakistani cable.

Since Khan’s removal from power, the U.S. has worked closely with the new military-backed Pakistani regime. Pakistan provided weapons to Ukraine in exchange for the U.S. brokering a favorable International Monetary Fund loan package, according to previous reporting from The Intercept.

Before being imprisoned, Khan made frequent reference to the classified cypher and even claimed to be brandishing a physical copy during a political rally. He is now facing a lengthy prison sentence on charges related to his handling of classified information, in addition to the raft of corruption charges that initially landed him in custody.

Coming in the context of a broader crackdown on his party — which has including killings, extrajudicial disappearances, and torture targeting supporters of PTI and members of the press — most observers believe Khan’s continued imprisonment is a politically motivated gambit to keep him and his movement out of power.

Following this year’s election, with Casar and others in Congress raising questions about Khan’s removal and the vote, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing featuring Lu, the assistant secretary of state.

The sole person testifying, Lu denied that he had been involved in a “regime change” in Pakistan — a reference to Khan’s comments about his role and the content of the cable reported by The Intercept.

On the election, Lu paid lip service to concerns about how the ballot was carried off, while failing to outline what consequences there would be for the vote rigging.

“You have seen actions by our ambassador and our embassy,” Lu said, alluding the congratulations extended by the U.S. to Pakistan’s new prime minister. He then quickly added: “We are in every interaction with this government stressing the importance of accountability for election irregularities.”

“In the long term it has never worked out in the United States’ benefit to be seen as propping up illegitimate, military-led governments.”

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., raised the issue of Khan’s safety in detention at the hearing. Sherman urged Lu to meet directly with Khan in prison, earning applause from the mostly Pakistani audience in hand.

“Ensuring the safety of leaders, regardless of political differences, is paramount,” said Atif Khan, another Pakistan American diaspora activist. “Congressman Brad Sherman rightly advocated for accountability and protection, urging the US Ambassador to visit former Prime Minister Imran Khan and prioritize his well-being.”

While Khan’s fate hangs in the balance, members of Congress have warned that continued U.S. support for a government seen as illegitimate by most Pakistanis risks harming not just Pakistan, but also the U.S. position in a critical region.

“Promoting democracy is important in itself, but it’s in our interests as well,” Casar, the Texas Democrat, told The Intercept. “Regardless of the short-term military benefits, in the long term it has never worked out in the United States’ benefit to be seen as propping up illegitimate, military-led governments.”

[titleknown]

So, this is scary as hell, Google's developing tech to scan your face as a form of age identification, and it's yet another reason why we need to stop the various bad internet bills like EARN IT, STOP CSAM, and especially KOSA.

Because, that's why they're doing this, and that sort of invasive face scanning is what everybody's been warning people they're going to do if they pass, so the fact they're running up to push it through should alarm everyone.

And, as of this posting on 12/27/2023, it's been noted that Chuck Schumer wants to try and start pushing these bills through as soon as the new year starts, and some whisperings have been made even of all these bad bills being merged under STOP CSAM into one deadly super-bill.

So, if you live in the US call your senators, and even if you don't please boost this, we need to stop this now.

[phoenixyfriend]

I feel like I need to look at a lot more analyses of the recent Chuck Schumer speech.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on Israel to hold new elections, saying he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” and is an obstacle to peace in the region amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Schumer, the first Jewish majority leader in the Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S., strongly criticized Netanyahu in a 40-minute speech Thursday morning on the Senate floor. Schumer said the prime minister has put himself in a coalition of far-right extremists and “as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.” “Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” Schumer said. The high-level warning comes as an increasing number of Democrats have pushed back against Israel and as President Joe Biden has stepped up public pressure on Netanyahu’s government [...]. Schumer has so far positioned himself as a strong ally of the Israeli government [...].

There are... I want to say four? possible interpretations, generally:

A moral shift in response to circumstance: The situation in Gaza has escalated to such a point that he feels morally obligated to change his rhetoric, whether for Palestinians' sakes or Israeli's own sakes.

A moral shift in response to persuasion: Fellow Democrats and Independents have successfully begun to convince him that a change in rhetoric is needed.

A pragmatic shift in response to constituents: Voters from New York State have been blowing up his phones to argue him into putting conditions on aid to Israel, and he felt this was a good 'middle ground' to appeal to them without losing his pro-Israeli base.

A pragmatic shift in response to national trends: Continued protest votes like Michigan are starting to worry him and fellow 'traditional' Dems.

Or, most likely, some combination thereof.

Ethically, I hope it's one of the first two, and the Schumer has realized how ethically barren Israel's government currently is.

...in terms of 'can we actually affect things,' though? I hope this is a pragmatic shift. We cannot predict how individual Senators will change up their morals and philosophy, but if this change is in response to pressure from voters, then that means we can push them farther left.

Anyway.

Call your reps. Here's some suggestions on what to say.

EDIT: To clarify, I am not saying that Schumer is concerned about his own reelection. He is old and he isn't up for reelection until 2029, so it's even odds if he'll even run again. However, as the Senate Majority Leader, he is at least in theory required to take his party's opinions into account, and to worry about what is going to happen to the executive branch in November. Whether or not Schumer has any real power come 2025 is very heavily dependent on who the president is, and he is very aware of that.

He may also be worried about his actions causing backlash against Gillibrand (NY's junior senator).

[tomorrowusa]

Four years ago today (March 13th), then President Donald Trump got around to declaring a national state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic. The administration had been downplaying the danger to the United States for 51 days since the first US infection was confirmed on January 22nd.

From an ABC News article dated 25 February 2020...

CDC warns Americans of 'significant disruption' from coronavirus

Until now, health officials said they'd hoped to prevent community spread in the United States. But following community transmissions in Italy, Iran and South Korea, health officials believe the virus may not be able to be contained at the border and that Americans should prepare for a "significant disruption." This comes in contrast to statements from the Trump administration. Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said Tuesday the threat to the United States from coronavirus "remains low," despite the White House seeking $1.25 billion in emergency funding to combat the virus. Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC’s Kelly Evans on “The Exchange” Tuesday evening, "We have contained the virus very well here in the U.S." [ ... ] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the request "long overdue and completely inadequate to the scale of this emergency." She also accused President Trump of leaving "critical positions in charge of managing pandemics at the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security vacant." "The president's most recent budget called for slashing funding for the Centers for Disease Control, which is on the front lines of this emergency. And now, he is compounding our vulnerabilities by seeking to ransack funds still needed to keep Ebola in check," Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday morning. "Our state and local governments need serious funding to be ready to respond effectively to any outbreak in the United States. The president should not be raiding money that Congress has appropriated for other life-or-death public health priorities." She added that lawmakers in the House of Representatives "will swiftly advance a strong, strategic funding package that fully addresses the scale and seriousness of this public health crisis." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also called the Trump administration's request "too little too late." "That President Trump is trying to steal funds dedicated to fight Ebola -- which is still considered an epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- is indicative of his towering incompetence and further proof that he and his administration aren't taking the coronavirus crisis as seriously as they need to be," Schumer said in a statement.

A reminder that Trump had been leaving many positions vacant – part of a Republican strategy to undermine the federal government.

Here's a picture from that ABC piece from a nearly empty restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. The screen displays a Trump tweet still downplaying COVID-19 with him seeming more concerned about the effect of the Dow Jones on his re-election bid.

People were not buying Trump's claims but they were buying PPE.

I took this picture at CVS on February 26th that year.

The stock market which Trump in his February tweet claimed looked "very good" was tanking on March 12th – the day before his state of emergency declaration.

Trump succeeded in sending the US economy into recession much faster than George W. Bush did at the end of his term – quite a feat!. (As an aside, every recession in the US since 1981 has been triggered by Republican presidents.)

Of course Trump never stopped trying to downplay the pandemic nor did he ever take responsibility for it. The US ended up with the highest per capita death rate of any technologically advanced country.

Precious time was lost while Trump dawdled. Orange on this map indicates COVID infections while red indicates COVID deaths. At the time Trump declared a state of emergency, the virus had already spread to 49 states.

The United States could have done far better and it certainly had the tools to do so.

The Obama administration had limited the number of US cases of Ebola to under one dozen during that pandemic in the 2010s. Based on their success, they compiled a guide on how the federal government could limit future pandemics.

Obama team left pandemic playbook for Trump administration, officials confirm

Of course Trump ignored it.

Unlike those boxes of nuclear secrets in Trump's bathroom, the Obama pandemic limitation document is not classified. Anybody can read it – even if Trump didn't. This copy comes from the Stanford University Libraries.

TOWARDS EPIDEMIC PREDICTION: FEDERAL EFFORTS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN OUTBREAK MODELING

Feel free to share this post with anybody who still feels nostalgic about the Trump White House years!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mark Sumner at Daily Kos:

Previously unreleased video from Jan. 6, 2021, shows that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quickly identified Donald Trump as the force behind the violent attack on the Capitol. The video was turned over to the Republican-led House Committee on Administration by Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, a filmmaker who was there to document the Electoral College vote count.

The video shows that within hours of the insurrection, Pelosi identified Trump as "a domestic enemy."  “I just feel sick about what he did to the Capitol and the country today,” Pelosi said while slumped in the back of an SUV in the early morning hours of Jan. 7. “He’s got to pay a price for that.” The video also shows the speaker’s reluctance about being removed from the House chamber by security forces, even as Trump’s rioters entered the building, because she knew exactly what was at stake.  “If they stop the proceedings,” Pelosi says in the video, “they will have succeeded in stopping the validation of the presidency of the United States." The video showing the focus on Trump's instigation of events comes as special counsel Jack Smith has filed a superseding indictment in the case against Donald Trump for his role in Jan. 6.

[...] "We take an oath to protect our country from all enemies, foreign and domestic," Pelsoi told those around her in the hours following the attack. "There is a domestic enemy in the White House. And let's not mince words about this." Pelosi also seemed to doubt that congressional leaders were being removed for their own protection, rather than as part of the scheme to halt the counting of electoral votes.  The Republican-led House Committee on Administration is sure to play up a portion of the just-released video in which Pelosi blames herself for not giving the National Guard sufficient warning of just how bad events on Jan. 6 might become. "Why weren't the National Guard there to begin with?" Pelosi asks at one point as she is being escorted out of the Capitol. "They clearly didn't know, and I take responsibility for not having them just prepared for more.” Republicans are likely to pounce on this statement as confirmation of Trump’s false claims that Pelsoi “took full responsibility” for the security of the Capitol. However, Pelosi did not have the authority to call in the National Guard. Previously released footage shows Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer desperately trying to get someone to bring in the Guard, only to meet with little response.

Previously unreleased video from January 6th, 2021 revealed that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) rightly labeled insurrection-inciter Donald Trump as a “domestic enemy.”

[bighermie]

Senator Mike Lee Expertly Destroys Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's Absurd Argument Against Impeaching Mayorkas - Issues Warning to Democrats (VIDEO) | The Gateway Pundit | by Cullen Linebarger

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Matthew Continetti

Six months. That's how long it took for President Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorists who killed some 1,200 people, raped women, tortured and murdered children, and took more than 200 captives, including American citizens, into the maze of tunnels, spider holes, and underground bunkers known as the Gaza Metro on October 7.

According to the White House, Biden on Thursday called for an "immediate ceasefire" and told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "strikes on humanitarian workers" and "the overall humanitarian situation" are "unacceptable." Biden went on to say that "U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action" and on steps to "address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers."

This is a demand that Israel appease Hamas at the negotiating table. This is a threat to condition military assistance to Israel based on absolutely no evidence and grounded in a ridiculous and unachievable standard of conduct. The move is cynical, opportunistic, and counterproductive. Biden has lost the plot.

For six months after the worst blow to the Jewish state since its founding in 1948, and the worst day for world Jewry since the Holocaust, Biden stood with Israel and defended Israel's right to self-defense. America supplied Israel with the weaponry required to free the hostages and destroy Hamas as a coherent military force. America took Israel's side in multilateral institutions such as the International Court of Justice.

The situation has changed. For weeks, Biden has let anyone within earshot know that he is frustrated and angry with Israel's strategy and tactics. He approved of Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D., N.Y.) call for new elections in Israel and the replacement of Netanyahu's government. His advisers have been trying to prevent Israel's planned offensive in the city of Rafah, where Hamas's remaining battalions use the hostages and 1.5 million Palestinians as human shields. Last month, Biden's U.N. ambassador chose not to veto a resolution calling for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza—a diplomatic warning that America may not always be there for Israel.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Senate Democrats sought to pass legislation Tuesday banning bump stocks for firearms after the Supreme Court overruled a previous ban, but a single Republican objected on behalf of his party, effectively stalling the bill.

Backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., sought “unanimous consent” to pass his BUMP Act that would prohibit the devices, which modify semi-automatic weapons to fire bullets more quickly.

The New Mexico senator said he’s a firearm owner who sees no purpose for bump stocks other than to facilitate mass shootings, as in Las Vegas in 2017, when a gunman killed dozens of people at a music festival and more than 500 people were injured.

“The Las Vegas gunman was able to murder and injure so many so quickly because he used a deadly device known as a bump stock,” Heinrich said on the Senate floor. “There’s no legitimate use for a bump stock. Not for self-defense, not in a law enforcement context, not even in military applications as they’re less accurate than a standard fully automatic military platform. But what they are tailor-made for is a mass shooting.”

But the bill was met with an objection from Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., blocking it from moving forward. The objection was backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and many other Republican senators, marking a turnaround after many of them championed a bump stock ban imposed by the Trump administration after the Las Vegas massacre.

Ricketts labeled the bill “a gun-grabbing overreach," saying it is written vaguely and could give the Biden administration power to target “common firearm accessories, not just bump stocks.”

“That’s really, really scary,” Ricketts said, calling the measure an infringement on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. He labeled it “another day in the Democrat summer of show votes,” following recent votes on protections for IVF and contraception which were also blocked by Republicans.

The clash comes in the heat of an election year, when Republicans are running as staunch supporters of gun rights while President Joe Biden and Democrats call for stricter firearm laws.

The move Tuesday followed a Supreme Court decision last week saying the executive branch may not use existing law to ban bump stocks, although the 6-3 ruling along ideological lines kept the door open for Congress to regulate the accessories with a new law.

Unanimous consent is one mechanism for the Senate to pass legislation speedily, often used for non-controversial measures. Schumer can also bring the bump stock bill or other legislation up through the regular process, which takes more time and requires 60 votes to break a filibuster. That means at least 9 Republicans would have to support it if Democrats and independents stick together.

Before the unanimous consent request, Schumer didn’t say whether he’d bring up the bill through regular channels if it stalled, imploring Republicans to “see the light” and not block it.

“Many of them were extremely supportive of this when President Trump did it as a regulation,” Schumer said. “Donald Trump is hardly a friend to gun safety. But I’m just shocked that the Supreme Court will be even to the right of him.”

Heinrich warned that if Congress doesn’t prohibit bump stocks, “street gangs and cartels and mass shooters” may be able to access these devices “and turn them against our communities.”

He added: “This will not be the last time you hear about these devices on the floor of the Senate.”

[mariacallous]

Two things happened this week that got me really worried about AI’s role in the US election:

First, WIRED published a massive story on how voters in India have received over 50 million deepfaked voice calls imitating candidates and political figures. That’s a lot of deepfakes, and voters are confusing them for the real thing.

Second, the Federal Communications Commission announced this week that it’s considering new AI ad rules only a few months after it banned synthetic robocalls. (Synthetic ads are ads that are created or altered with AI.) Excuse me, but why is the FCC the only government entity that’s approved new AI and elections rules this year? The Indian election should be a warning sign for the US to get busy regulating, but the FCC is the only one picking up the phone.

Let’s talk about it.

The US Is Running Out of Time to Stamp Out Deepfake Political Ads

Remember when the Republican National Committee put out an AI-generated ad attacking Biden? Or when Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ super PAC released an AI ad that mimicked former president Donald Trump? It’s almost been a year since both these ads came out, and there aren't any new laws governing AI ads, despite all the outrage at the time.

Last year, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer started holding meetings with a rotating set of stakeholders and AI industry leaders to develop solutions to issues raised by generative AI. One of the leader’s priorities was to protect US elections from whatever mess the tech may create ahead of November. He has issued a report and pushed senators to turn that guidance into law, but that’s about all that’s happened.

The FCC can’t do as much as Congress can, but it’s done the most out of the two. In February, the agency outlawed using generative AI in robocalls in response to the New Hampshire call impersonating President Joe Biden. On Wednesday, chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel went further, proposing that broadcast television, radio, and some cable political ads disclose when synthetic material is used.

“As artificial intelligence tools become more accessible, the Commission wants to make sure consumers are fully informed when the technology is used,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Today, I’ve shared with my colleagues a proposal that makes clear consumers have a right to know when AI tools are being used in the political ads they see, and I hope they swiftly act on this issue.”

This is all great, but voters are probably going to encounter more digital fakes online than over broadcast. And for digital ads, the government hasn’t issued any solutions.

The Federal Election Commission was petitioned by the advocacy group Public Citizen to create rules requiring FCC-like disclosures for all political ads, regardless of the medium, but the agency has yet to act. A January Washington Post report said that the FEC plans to make some decision by early summer. But summer is around the corner, and we haven’t heard much. The Senate Rules Committee passed three bills to regulate the use of AI in elections, including disclosures, earlier this month, but there’s no promise it will hit the floor in time to make a difference.

If you really want to get scared, there are only 166 days until the presidential election. That’s not many days to get something related to AI disclosures over the finish line, especially before the Biden and Trump campaigns, and all the downballot politicians, start dumping even more cash into ads on social platforms.

Without regulations, tech companies will carry much of the responsibility for protecting our elections from disinformation. If it doesn’t sound that different from 2020, I feel the same way! It’s a new issue, but with the same companies leading the charge. In November, Meta said that political ads must include disclaimers when they contain AI-generated content. TikTok doesn’t allow political ads, but it does require creators to label AI content when they share synthetic content depicting realistic images, audio, and video.

It’s something, but what happens if they make a huge mistake? Sure, Mark Zuckerberg and every other tech CEO may get hauled in by Congress for a hearing or two, but it’s unlikely they’d face regulatory consequences before the election takes place.

There’s a lot at stake here, and we’re running out of time. If Congress or an agency were to issue some guidance, they’d need to do it in the next few months. Otherwise, it might not be worth the effort.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Michael De Adder

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 27, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

FEB 28, 2024

The House of Representatives will be back in session tomorrow after the February 19 Presidents Day holiday. It is facing a number of crucial issues, but the ongoing problem of the radicalism of the MAGA Republicans has ground—and, apparently, continues to grind—legislation to a halt.  

The farm bill, which establishes the main agricultural and food policies of the government—agricultural subsidies and food benefits, among other things—and which needs to be reauthorized every five years, expired in September 2023. While Congress extended the 2018 bill as a stopgap until September 2024, the new bill should be passed.

The farm bill has more breathing room than the appropriations bills to fund the government in fiscal year 2024 (which started on October 1, 2023). Four of the continuing resolutions Congress passed to keep the government running will expire on March 1; the other eight will expire on March 8. Operating on a continuing resolution that maintains 2023 levels of spending means the government cannot shift to the new priorities Congress agreed to in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, along with leaders from the Pentagon and the Senate, warns that the lack of appropriations measures is compromising national defense. 

On an even tighter timeline is the national security supplemental bill to aid Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. Ukraine is running out of ammunition, and its war effort is faltering. Every day that passes without the matériel only the U.S. can provide hurts the Ukrainians’ cause.

All of these measures are stalled because extremist MAGA Republicans in the House are insisting their demands be included in them. Negotiators have been trying to hash out the farm bill for months, and today Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said she would rather continue to extend the 2018 law than bow to the House Republicans’ demands for cuts to food assistance programs and funding for climate change. 

Appropriations bills are generally passed “clean,” that is, without the inclusion of unrelated controversial elements. But House Republicans are insisting the appropriations bills include their own demands for much deeper cuts than House leadership agreed to, as well as riders about abortion; gun policy; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; LGBTQ+ rights; and so on. Those are nonstarters for Democrats.

As for the national security supplemental measure, lawmakers agree on a bipartisan basis that Ukraine’s successful defense against Russia’s invasion is crucial to U.S. national security. The Senate passed the bill on a strong bipartisan vote of 70 to 29, and if brought to the floor of the House, it would be expected to pass there, too. 

But House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) refuses to bring it to the floor. When President Joe Biden first asked for the aid in October, Republicans insisted they could not see their way to protecting our national security overseas without addressing it on the southern border. A bipartisan group of senators spent four months hashing out a border provision for the bill—House Republicans declined to participate—only to have House Republicans scuttle the measure when former president Trump told them to. The Senate promptly passed a bill that didn’t have the border component. Rather than take it up, the House recessed.

Today, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with congressional leaders and urged them to pass the appropriations bills and the national security supplemental. But Biden, Harris, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) all agree on the need to pass these measures immediately. The holdout is House speaker Johnson.

After the meeting, Schumer said the meeting on Ukraine was “one of the most intense” scenes he had ever seen in the Oval Office. "We said to the speaker, 'Get it done.' I told him this is one of the moments—I said I've been around here a long time. It's maybe four or five times that history is looking over your shoulder, and if you don't do the right thing, whatever the immediate politics are, you will regret it. I told him two years from now and every year after that, because really, it's in his hands." 

For his part, Johnson said that “the House is actively pursuing and investigating all the various options” on the supplemental bill, “but again, the first priority of the country is our border and making sure it’s secure.” 

Johnson appears to be working for Trump, who is strongly opposed to aid for Ukraine and likely intends to use immigration as a campaign issue. 

But Trump is a poor choice to give control over United States security. Yesterday, Special Counsel Jack Smith responded to Trump’s motion to dismiss the charges against him associated with his stealing and hiding classified documents on the grounds that he was being treated differently than President Biden, who had also had classified documents in his possession but was not criminally charged.

Smith noted that while there have been many government officials who have accidentally or willfully kept classified documents, and even some who briefly resisted attempts to recover them, Trump’s behavior was unique. “He intentionally took possession of a vast trove of some of the nation’s most sensitive documents…and stored them in unsecured locations at his heavily trafficked social club.” Then, when the government tried to recover the documents, Trump “delayed, obfuscated, and dissembled,” finally handing over only “a fraction” of those in his possession. No one, Smith wrote, “has engaged in a remotely similar suite of willful and deceitful criminal conduct and not been prosecuted.” 

Perhaps to distract from Smith’s filing, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability chair James Comer (R-KY) and House Committee on the Judiciary chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) today subpoenaed information from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of documents. Hur’s report exonerated the president and showed such contrast between Trump's behavior and Biden's full cooperation with officials that Smith used material from it in his filing. 

Comer and Jordan are likely also eager to find new material against Biden after the man who provided the key evidence in their impeachment attempt turned out to be working with Russian intelligence agents and was recently indicted for lying and creating a false record.

Since this year is a leap year, Congress has three days to pass the first four of the appropriations measures or to find another workaround before March 1, when parts of the government shut down. As Schumer said, those measures, along with the national security supplemental bill, are now in Speaker Johnson’s hands.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[ahaura]

(Nov. 14)

@Marxozoic: What a prefect distillation of Zionism.

@NikkiMcR: John Hagee, who suggested the Holocaust was God's punishment against disobedient Jews and has said the anti-christ will be "partially Jewish, as was Adolf Hitler" takes the stage at the March for Israel

[Nov. 14] @prem_thakker: “The calls for a ceasefire are outrageous,” said Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson at the March for Israel, prompting the crowd to chant “no ceasefire.” Johnson was flanked by Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Republican Senator Join Ernst.

[Nov. 14] @BenLorber8: Many signs in the crowd championing belligerent bombardment, collective punishment of civilians in Gaza

[Nov. 14] @BenLorber8: The most powerful antisemite in America, Christian Zionist leader Pastor John Hagee, channels his triumphalist, war-hungry imperial theology before a massive crowd of Jews whom he views as cannon fodder for the End Times. Truly chilling moment

& from yesterday: totally unrelated, totally not concerning events recorded in Atlanta:

(Nov. 13)

@Roots_Action: RIOT COPS ARE OUT! Police in Atlanta have formed a line to block protestors from moving forward. All eyes on Atlanta! #StopCopCity #BlockCopCity

[Nov. 13] @Roots_Action: ATLANTA COPS RIOTING!! TEAR GAS LAUNCHED

[Nov. 13] @antiracistsouth: Selma was an illegal march. #Atlanta

@ribunchreports: DeKalb police warning out of a cruiser that “this is an illegal protest, you guys need to disperse or you will be arrested.” #atlpol #copcity

[Nov. 13] @micahinATL: this is one of those pictures that really speaks for itself. this is why cop city cannot be allowed to be built. these are also the cops that train with the IDF. it’s all connected.

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

Some excerpts about various college protests:

Law enforcement have arrested more than 20 people on the University of Texas at Austin campus, according to a statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety. ... Harvard University has joined the growing list of American universities holding solidarity encampment protests. Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, a group that describes itself on Instagram as a "coalition of Harvard students fighting for divestment and a #FreePalestine," posted today that it established a "liberated zone" on campus, joining a slew of other campuses across the country. ... Police responded to the encampment protest and were seen taking down tents at the University of Southern California this afternoon — hours after student activists started their demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. ... Peace and environmental activist Naomi Klein, who is Jewish, joined hundreds of antiwar demonstrators outside New York Sen. Chuck Schumer's home Tuesday night for an "emergency" Seder. ... Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika, an assistant professor of journalism at NYU, said he and other faculty members went to support students protesting in support of Palestinians yesterday when ranks of “intimidating” helmeted police officers closed in and arrested them. ”I can’t even count how many police. Then they arrested faculty and they violently arrest students, and sort of destroyed this academy that the students had set up. Took all of us down to One Police Plaza, the NYPD headquarters, and everyone was charged with trespass,” he said. Kumanyika said students were grabbed, handcuffed with zip ties and officers were seen throwing chairs. Student protesters at the University of California's Berkeley campus joined students across the country yesterday in demanding their school cut all ties with Israeli institutions. The Berkeley protesters have camped out for the last two days in opposition to the war in Gaza."I guess I'm not super surprised. I mean, it is Berkeley, things like this are happening all the time. The only thing that's surprising me is, it's this late in the semester," UC Berkeley student Any Bass told KNTV, NBC News' affiliate in the Bay Area. .... An encampment protest started this morning at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, with about 90 students seen joining shortly after 6 a.m., the school said. Nine people were arrested at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus yesterday, the institution said this morning. Some students had set up an encampment on the north end of Northrop Mall and were warned by police early yesterday to disperse or be arrested. Some chose to disperse while others chose to remain and peacefully protest before they were arrested and later released.

[phoenixyfriend]

Calls for Action, Call Your Reps: 3/27/24

This is USA-specific, as that is the place I live and know.

Find your elected officials. Remember, emails are good, but calls make the most impact.

Suggested verbiage and strategies for calling your elected officials. We've recently seen politicians, including Biden, start to pivot towards the "Israel is increasing danger to itself" argument in public statements.

Suggested reading for this week's events: Chuck Schumer's speech, the bill that banned UNRWA Funding and the UN vote.

Arguments that I believe would be the most effective at this time:

Netanyahu has been vocally and actively refusing to comply with the UN resolution demanding a ceasefire through the end of Ramadan, and the US needs to stop funding their military in response to the dismissal of UN resolutions and international law.

Israel has been committing war crimes throughout this war, and the US's denial of this on public forums is coming across as hypocritical and morally bankrupt.

The war is expanding further into Lebanon and Jordan, fulfilling the predicted destabilization of the region that experts warned of. The United States, by funding Israel's military without attaching conditions and a risk of withdrawal, is encouraging the risk of a regional war.

In light of the recent bill banning funding to UNRWA, the United States needs to dedicate funding to alternate aid options, such as UNICEF, MSF, or the World Food Programme. We also need to place real, actionable pressure on Israel to stop blocking the borders, particularly the crossing with Egypt where some 2,000 aid trucks are waiting to enter Gaza, some of which have been there for two months, as well as ensuring that the aid trucks stop being turned away for largely arbitrary reasons such as medical scissors or oxygen tanks.

FOR DEM REPS: The movement the US has made in shifting rhetoric over the past two weeks is important, but it's not enough, and we will lose crucial states in the presidential election, along with seats in the House and Senate, leading to a large loss of power in the federal government in the coming terms.

Things to not do:

Accuse people who voted for the UNRWA ban of being pro-genocide. I talk about it in the suggested reading but the short version is that even some pro-Palestine Dems voted for it due to the current Congressional makeup meaning that aid through UNRWA was likely impossible at this time anyway.

Yell or swear at the staffer who answers your call.

Claim that Israel is in no danger from other states and powers in the region.

Linger for too long on the death toll. Yes, it is VERY IMPORTANT, but you will get MAYBE two and a half minutes, and other statements hold more power. Mention that you find it unconscionable, but then move on to something with more impact on your elected officials.

To support my blogging so I can move out of my parents’ house, I do have a ko-fi. Alternately, you can donate to one of the charities I list in this post.

[nothingbuttrashhere]

Some of you need to remember where republicans stand, re: Israel.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/27/trump-israel-gaza-policy-donors/

Oh. And let’s not forget the people republicans get a good chunk of their money and therefore their policy from:

https://sadat.umd.edu/sites/sadat.umd.edu/files/PressRelease.pdf

I need everyone to think REALLY HARD about what happens to Palestine if this group wins and what message that sends. Because the only message I am seeing is that Republicans want Palestinians dead and lot more. And democrats will take ten steps back from helping Palestine in any conflict in the future.

I need you to realize that the minuscule, seemingly pointless things that Biden has done to speak out against Israel are against both the Democratic and Republican policy. That his actions go against US policy.

We should have never had this policy to begin with.

This is ridiculous and infuriating.

But we do, because as citizens we are not interested in paying attention to our politics. We have let corporations and interest groups run this country for too long.

Voting is the only way we will be able to take this back.

[plethoraworldatlas]

The two highest-ranking Democrats in the U.S. Congress have reportedly warned President Joe Biden behind closed doors that his continued presence at the top of the party's ticket could imperil down-ballot candidates in November.

The New York Timesreported late Wednesday that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) "each told Mr. Biden privately over the past week that their members were deeply concerned about his chances in November and the fates of House and Senate candidates" should he defy calls to drop his reelection bid against Republican nominee Donald Trump.

ABC Newsreported that Schumer "had a blunt conversation with Biden, making the case it would be best if Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race."

"A source familiar with the matter tells ABC News that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has expressed similar views directly to Biden, suggesting he should drop out of the race," the outlet added.

The conversations with Democratic leaders appear to have left Biden "more receptive" to calls to drop out, according to the Times—an attitude that contrasts with the incumbent president's furious dismissal of concerns expressed by rank-and-file Democrats in recent private conversations.

Twenty House Democrats and one Democratic senator have publicly urged Biden to step aside to date, and a poll released Wednesday showed that 65% of Democratic voters want the president to withdraw from the 2024 race.

Politicoreported Wednesday that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)—the former House speaker—told Biden directly last week that "she and other Democratic lawmakers worry that he's dragging down the party." One unnamed ally of Pelosi told the outlet that she intends to "do everything in her power to make sure" Biden is replaced at the top of the Democratic ticket.

"To argue that Biden staying in is good for Dems is to argue that you have a better grasp of the electoral situation than Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Hakeem Jeffries," wrote progressive organizer Aaron Regunberg, a vocal proponent of replacing Biden at the top of the ticket.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Joan McCarter at Daily Kos:

When the Supreme Court overturned a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, an accessory that turns semiautomatic rifles into weapons of mass destruction, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his concurrence that there was a “simple remedy” to ban the part: “Congress can act.” The Senate is attempting to do just that, with Democrats trying to pass a bipartisan bill to ban bump stocks on Tuesday. They are trying to bring the bill to the floor under unanimous consent, a way of fast-tracking its passage. The move takes on both Republicans—who will certainly object—and the Supreme Court.  In a floor statement, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the court. 

“We must act because a few days ago, the MAGA Supreme Court struck once again, saying the federal government has no power to ban the sale of bump stocks,” he said. “The MAGA Court’s decision is an utter disgrace—it will endanger our communities, endanger law enforcement, and make it easier for mass shooters to unleash carnage. Last week’s decision is another warning sign that this MAGA court is going off the deep end, aligning with the most extreme elements of the hard-right.”

Good on the Senate Dems to tell the radical right-wing Supreme Court to play in traffic.